Local Modesto News

When buying tickets online for arts and entertainment events, pay attention to who is doing the selling. If you're not careful, you could pay triple or even quadruple the price.

The Gallo Center for the Arts, as seen in an aerial view about an hour before the gala opening concert Thursday evening. - - ADRIAN MENDOZA

The Wine Group is holding one of its occasional sales to clear warehouse space at the old Franzia Winery. Buyers can browse 11 bins just inside a chain-link fence, amid the rumble of semis going about their business.

The Wine Group's chief operating officer, Brian Vos, center, and vice-president of manufacturing, Glen Spyksma, right, check to see how their wine is selling, at The Wine Group's warehouse site near Ripon, on Friday, November 20, 2009. The Wine Group is offering big discounts on wine by the case to clear room out of there warehouse. (DARRYL BUSH/dbush@modbee.com) - -

Martina Hickey of Stockton, holds a bottle of "Cardinal Zin" by Big House as she selects wines to buy by the case, at The Wine Group's warehouse site near Ripon, on Friday, November 20, 2009. The Wine Group is offering big discounts on wine by the case to clear room out of there warehouse. (DARRYL BUSH/dbush@modbee.com) - -

They came eager with résumés in hand in the face of new, more daunting numbers on unemployment and a forecast for many more long, cold months of economic winter. But with Stanislaus County's jobless rate spiking from 15.2 percent to 16.6 percent in October and the state rate rising to a record high of 12.5 percent, the prospects for many job hunters remain grim.

Job seekers stand go through a line as they talk with potential employers or gather job information at the Employment Development Department job fair, Friday, November 20, 2009 in Modesto. (DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com) - -

Applications for jobs from several employers were available including Marshalls, Macys, Ambercrombie, Radio Shack, Lane Bryant, and Freeway Insurance were at the EDD job fair, Friday, November 20, 2009. (DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com) - -

Faculty at California State University, Stanislaus, overwhelmingly supported a no-confidence vote against President Ham Shirvani. Results of the weeklong voting were released Friday - 91 percent voted no confidence in Shirvani's performance.

CSUS President Ham Shirvani. (Bart Ah You / bahyou@modbee.com) - -

WASHINGTON - The dollar chase never stops for California incumbents and challengers alike, who keep busy raising campaign cash for themselves and others.

Rep. Dennis Cardoza at Ceres High School discussing the vocational programs. (DEBBIE NODA / dnoda@modbee.com) - -

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner touted tax cuts and regulatory reforms as a path to economic stability for the state in a Friday visit to the Modesto Chamber of Commerce.

Steve Poizner, republican candidate for California governor at the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, Friday, November 20, 2009. Assemblyman Tom Berryhill and Joan Clendenin of the Republican Party of Stanislaus are seated next to him. (DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com) - -

Fifty public service retirees are getting pensions greater than $100,000 a year from the Stanislaus County Employees' Retirement Association, according to records released Friday.

Stanislaus County Counsel Michael H. "Mick" Krausnick is preparing to retire in March after 33 years of service. Photographed in Krausnick's office at Modesto's Tenth Street Place on Thursday, December 27, 2007. (Ted Benson/The Modesto Bee) - -

Former Stanislaus County Sheriff Les Weidman. April 23, 2008. (Brian Ramsay/bramsay@modbee.com) - -

The budding economic recovery isn't getting much help from the home-building industry, which normally creates jobs and drives growth when a recession ends.

New housing construction underway off of Rancho Encantado Lane March 16, 2006. At right- Juan Carlos Ortega, installing exterior insulation. (Debbie Noda / The Modesto Bee). - -

An autopsy report commissioned by Craig Prescott's family says the 38-year-old former sheriff's deputy died from a lack of oxygen to the brain during a struggle with jailers in April while in custody at the Stanislaus County Jail. Prescott's family on Friday provided a copy of the autopsy report to The Bee. The independent autopsy was conducted April 15 by Dr. David Posey of Glenoaks Pathology Medical Group in Southern California.

Craig Prescott - Unknown - Unknown

Family photo courtesy of Rachel Prescott In the photo are Craig Prescott, Rachel Prescott, and their children Analeyna, Ranelle, Talaya, Chalyn, Mariah and Yvana. - Unknown - Unknown

Let's talk post-turkey for a minute, shall we? Sure, Thanksgiving is but a few days away, but Christmas bells have been ringing across the region for a couple of weeks, what with stores decking their halls and a handful of holiday boutiques and craft fairs already coming and going.

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High unemployment in the San Joaquin Valley is driving fear that more motorists are going without auto insurance because they can't afford it.

An iconic Vietnam War-era helicopter soon will bear the Merced County Sheriff Department's green and gold.

A forecast calling for severe weather, including high winds and plenty of rain, didn't materialize as expected in the Northern San Joaquin Valley early Friday.

Modesto's MAX buses will adjust their routes on most lines serving Vintage Faire Mall on Thanksgiving weekend.

Maybe it was a pudding that didn't jell and a turkey full of the internal organs you forgot to remove. Maybe it was an aunt who had too much eggnog and started snoring into the yams. Or maybe it was the year you decided to leave it all behind, only to miss your flight.

The Central Valley and foothill counties saw their jobless rate spike in October, as the seasonal summer work ended and slower winter employment months began.

FILE - In this March 5, 2009 file photo, job seekers join a line of hundreds of people at a job fair sponsored by Monster.com in New York. Even with an economic revival, many U.S. jobs lost during the recession may be gone forever and a weak employment market could linger for years. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file) - AP - Mark Lennihan

An independent autopsy report, commissioned by Craig Prescott's family, says the 38-year-old former sheriff's deputy died from a lack of oxygen to the brain during a struggle with officers while in custody at the Stanislaus County Jail in April.

Craig Prescott - Unknown - Unknown

Family photo courtesy of Rachel Prescott In the photo are Craig Prescott, Rachel Prescott, and their children Analeyna, Ranelle, Talaya, Chalyn, Mariah and Yvana. - Unknown - Unknown

Get out your umbrellas. Forecasters say residents of Modesto and Stanislaus County should expect rain showers, which began around 3:30 this afternoon, to continue this evening. The rain should ease up after midnight and give way to mostly sunny conditions during the day Saturday.

JOAN BARNETT LEE / jlee@modbee.com Vanessa Czopek of Modesto walks down I street just past 14th street in downtown Modesto on Friday afternoon (11-20-09). Rain is expected later this evening. - Modesto Bee - Joan Barnett Lee

A trove of some 6,500 letters to and from renowned California conservationist John Muir is now available on the Internet.

John Muir, right, standing with President Teddy Roosevelt in Yosemite Valley about 1906, is considered a founder of the U.S. environmental movement. - Library of Congress -

Maegan Letras of Ceres is among a key contingent of fans for the book/movie franchise: women in their 30s and 40s captivated by the fierce romanticism of Stephanie Meyer's tale of a handsome, chivalrous teen vampire, Edward Cullen, and the awkward girl he loves, Bella Swan.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart star in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon." (Kimberley French/Summit Entertainment) - MCT -

Movie goers wait in line outside the Galaxy Theater in Riverbank to watch Twilight New Moon. November 19, 2009 (BART AH YOU/bahyou@modbee.com) - -